Del. Don Dwyer Jr., an Anne Arundel County Republican who has called himself “the face of the opposition” began his testimony with a prayer. He implored legislators to look to their faith.

“Look deep into your soul for the answer,” he said.

Ok. Here’s the “face of the opposition” — the leading homophobe in the House, Delegate Dwyer, Jr:I had heard from sources in Annapolis that Dwyer was distributing materials to other Delegates from, get this, Mass Resistance, a designated hate group. It’s true. I saw the email Dwyer sent to his colleagues and it actually includes a couple links to Mass Resistance. Here it is:

This is Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr.

I have been fighting for many years now to keep marriage between a man and a woman as the Creator God intended.We are about to redefine the term “marriage” to include same sex marriages. Please open, print and read the attached files regarding Same Sex Marriage

PLEASE NOTE: THE EFFECTS OF SSM AND THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK ARE VERY DISTURBING BUT YOU MUST KNOW WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT TO CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS For more information on the educational agenda please click these links. http://www.massresistance.orghttp://www.massresistance.org/docs/issues/kevin_jennings/index.html Montgomery County Maryland is currently teaching homosexuality in their schools.

I NEED YOUR HELP TO WARN PARENTS AND OTHER CHURCH LEADERS

In His Service,Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr

Again, Mass Resistance is a hate group. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which made that designation, explained the methods of anti-gay hate groups:

The religious right in America has employed a variety of strategies in its efforts to beat back the increasingly confident gay rights movement. One of those has been defamation. Many of its leaders have engaged in the crudest type of name-calling, describing LGBT people as “perverts” with “filthy habits” who seek to snatch the children of straight parents and “convert” them to gay sex. They have disseminated disparaging “facts” about gays that are simply untrue — assertions that are remarkably reminiscent of the way white intellectuals and scientists once wrote about the “bestial” black man and his supposedly threatening sexuality.

That’s the kind of material Dwyer sent to his colleagues in Annapolis. But, that’s all Dwyer and his ilk have got to go with — lies and misinformation from a hate group. It does show they’ll go to any length to defeat the marriage bill.

Fortunately for us, more and more people who are looking into their souls are seeing the need for equality. Let’s hope that keeps happening in Maryland. I understand that there’s a lot of gay-bashing underway, through mailings and robo-calls paid for by the anti-gay groups. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Catholics and Mormons are funding it.

We’ll have to keep an eye on the House debate. We need our allies to stand strong. The other side knows they’re losing — and that’s when they get really sick and ugly.

Joe Sudbay
On October 27, 2010, Joe was one of five bloggers who interviewed President Obama. Joe is a DC-based political consultant with over twenty-five years of experience at both the state and federal level. Joe has managed political operations and legislative efforts for both candidates and issues-based organizations. For seven years, he was the Director of State Legislation at Handgun Control, Inc. He served as that organization's first Political Director during the 2000 cycle. Joe is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law. In addition, he has a Masters in Public Administration from Lehigh University and received his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire. Joe also has a fun dog, Petey, a worthy successor to Boomer, who got Joe through eight years of Bush and Cheney. Joe likes to think he is a world class athlete having finished the 2005 Chicago Marathon in the time of 4:10. He has completed six other marathons as well -- and is still determined to break the four hour mark.

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